Claire Hutton is a one-of-a-kind soccer player.

“It’s what I want to do,” she said. “When I wake up, all I want to do is go play soccer. It’s my passion.”

Her passion, talent and hard work have led to success on pitches all around the world —from the Capital Region to the CONCACAF Women’s U-17 Championship and Pan American Games, and now to the National Women's Soccer League’s Kansas City Current.

“When I went down there, it just kind of took off from there, and the experience was great,” Hutton said. “The facilities there were great, the people were great, and from there the rest is history.”

At age 17, Hutton recently became just the second player in the club’s history to sign under the NWSL’s Under-18 Entry Mechanism. By choosing to play professionally, she is foregoing a collegiate career at the University of North Carolina and accelerating her dreams.

“No decision was a bad decision, and that’s what people kept reminding me of,” she said. “But at the end of the day, I know where my goals are: I want to make the women’s full national team one day. I want to play in a World Cup and Olympics and all that.”

Hutton is heading to Kansas City at an exciting time. The Current are soon opening a new stadium. And Hutton will be playing for the newly hired Vlatko Andonovski, who recently coached the U.S. Women’s National Team at the World Cup.

“It’s amazing just to have this in my backyard once I’m there, and being able to use the resources, it’s just going to help me keep propelling forward,” Hutton said.

Preseason training begins later this month, with a new NWSL season beginning in March.

“We want to bring some medals and some hardware home, so it’s kind of just going to be whatever I can do to help the team, but going out there to win,” Hutton said.